The Bacterions Are Back!

To escape you're going to have to successfully pilot your Vic Viper Model BP 456Y 50-foot starfighter through the Akarian Asteroid Field, the Bacterion Command and Control Center, the Askikin Meteor Belt, the AAAAAAArgh! Zone, and the Fifth Dimension. In all you have five levels of side-scrolling intergalactic shoot-em-up action.

Fans of the series know that the Vic Viper has previously battled the Bacterion menace successfully in Gradius and Life Force for the NES, Nemesis for the Game Boy, and, most recently, Gradius III for the SNES. This latest adventure features elements from all of the previous titles.

The gameplay uses the same power-up system found in previous Gradius space quests. You destroy alien marauders and every so often a power-up generator appears. Grab these to advance your power-up gauge, and hit Button B to activate the power-up of your choice. As in Gradius III you preselect certain weapon types. Before your game, you can decide if you'd like to tote a double laser or a ring laser, and use front and/or rear weapon and missile firepower.

Deja View

As you batter your way through the deadly environs of the Bacterion galaxy you'll see a few old familiar faces - including more than a few members of the Bacterion Beast Squadron, as well as some of your favorite big bad Bacterion bosses.

Grading Gradius

Fans of this series are gonna' love this big hand-held space shooter (2 megs!). It features the best elements of the Gradius series, including the latest weaponry system found in Gradius III. On the downside, your eyesight's gonna' suffer. The Vic Viper had to get mighty small to fit on your Game Boy screen and it's sometimes tough to know just what's coming at ya'. Combine this with some of the toughest Gradius levels yet and this cart's a tough challenge! But heck, Kortami's proved once again that good things can come in small packages.

ProTips:

Watch for the Mega Blast Device which occasionally appears when you destroy a Bacterion. It enables you to blow everything onscreen to smithereens. This one's in Level 1!

Watch out for alien asteroid pushers in Level 3. They'll hide behind asteroids and then try to push one right into your face.

When you reach the area of Level 3, where strange beings materialize out of thin air to attack you, just keep firing and fly in a counter-clockwise direction.

Your best combo is D and M with a Force Field. Armed with these weapons you can fire in all directions - now you're playing with power!

In all areas of this game, and especially in Level 1's asteroid belt, rapidly hitting Select gives you pseudo-slow motion -anda way to navigate through seemingly impossible areas.

Some old familiar alien bosses appear in each variation of the Gradius games. For the best results use your fa vorite strategies against these new versions of the old bosses.

reggie posted a review

Overall rating: 6.5

Download Gradius: The Interstellar Assault

Gameboy

System requirements:

PC compatible

Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

Game Reviews

The number one rule-of-thumb amongst space jockeys: blast or be blasted. That's exactly what you get to do in Konami's new five level portable space shooter for one, Gradius: The Interstellar Assault. Missiles, Guns, and Lasers are your weapons of choice, and each can be powered up to the third degree. Test out your flight skills and arsenal in the Practice Mode, and then when you're ready to rip, simply select your level of difficulty (Easy, Normal, or Hard) and get blastin'. Space Jockies unite, it's time to face the Interstellar Assault.